Originally posted by Doug Spaulding: Top 20 Horror Films...
Personal choices, Doug? I would have included THE BIRDS. Although PSYCHO is a much better constructed film, and parts of THE BIRDS are completely hokey, THE BIRDS scares the bejeezus out of me.
Originally posted by philnic: Personal choices, Doug? I would have included THE BIRDS. Although PSYCHO is a much better constructed film, and parts of THE BIRDS are completely hokey, THE BIRDS scares the bejeezus out of me.
100% personal. I love The Birds, but have always thought of it more as a suspense film than a horror, although I guess a bird attack of that magnitude would certainly be horrific! I was just in Bodega Bay again a couple weeks ago. Still a charming little village.
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Posts: 6909 | Location: 11 South Saint James Street, Green Town, Illinois | Registered: 02 October 2002
I'm not going to read all six pages of this thread, but if we're talking about horror movies, I guess my favorite would be the one that made the most impact on me when I first saw it. . . and that's the relatively obscure 1974 film Black Christmas, starring Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, John Saxon and Keir Dullea.
It was released on circuit in Cape Town, and wherever you live, I'm sure you could hear us screaming! I went to see it with my dad, and we "enjoyed" being scared by the movie so much that we went to see it again when, because of its local popularity, it was returned to theaters for an encore run about a year later.
Despite being little known, the movie is quietly influential - for example, it is the earliest one I can think of that has the "He's already in the house!" gimmick. Also, it's low on gore, but high on suspense and the creep factor.
Three of the cast members are people I can remember from only two movies: this one, and one other. It's the only film other than Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet in which I can remember seeing Olivia Hussey, the only one other than 2001 in which I can remember seeing Keir Dullea, and the only one other than Superman (1978) in which I can remember seeing Margot Kidder.
The operative word is remember, of course. I'm sure all those actors were in lots of other productions; I just don't remember them. John Saxon I did see here and there.
Posts: 702 | Location: Cape Town, South Africa | Registered: 29 December 2001
I remember John Saxon in "The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone" on THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER, among other fine show/movies. Olivia Hussey in one of my favorites, LOST HORIZON (the musical one...ducking, holster the flame thrower please!) Keir Dullea in the movie THE FOX (time well spent) and a tv adaptation of BRAVE NEW WORLD. Been awhile since I saw Margot Kidder, but I don't watch tv, I remember finding her funny and posessing a wonderful spirit.
Will seek out BLACK CHRISTMAS. Can't say I have a favorite horror movie, but a couple I remember fairly well: ALIEN and CREEPSHOW.
Linnl, do check out the Wikipedia entry on Black Christmas. Lots of interesting info, plus wildly different critical assessments, and a lovely anecdote about Steve Martin.
Posts: 702 | Location: Cape Town, South Africa | Registered: 29 December 2001
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was good in places and not a total disappointment. I could have done with less gore. A similar movie I liked a lot better was The House With a Clock in Its Walls. Both the horror and the humor worked in ways I felt they really didn't in Miss Peregrine. I believe the only Tim Burton film I saw beginning to end in a theater (or probably at all) was The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I saw with Mom, back in the day when a movie was a real commitment as we had to drive over 30 miles to Walla Walla. Mom complained that the Halloween creatures were so nasty, they should have had an especially nice Santa Claus to make up for it instead of an icky Santa Claus.
Another movie I saw in Walla Walla with Mom was Avatar in 3D. The audience was mostly, like Mom, old ladies who simply didn't want to be the only ones who hadn't seen Avatar. Before the movie a preview came on for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Mom made indignant exclamations ending in yelling, "THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED!" and the entire theater erupted in laughter. At the end Mom asked, "I don't get it. Who won the war?" I said "No one, Mom, that's how they're setting up for a sequel." "NO! I'M NOT SITTING THROUGH ANY SEQUEL!"
One film to which Mom violently objected as a travesty was the 1967 Disney The Jungle Book. My sisters and I were among the very few of our age not to see that when it came out. I finally saw it on VHS in 1998. In 2016 they brought out a live action version and whatta ya know, just in time for Mother's Day! So I took Mom as a surprise and what should be the preview but Tim Burton's Through the Looking Glass. This time Mom only muttered, "They should be punished," not loudly enough to be heard by the whole theater. The last movie I took her to in the theater was Mary Poppins Returns. It takes a lot to get me into a theater. Now they need to use some major movie resources to do Bradbury justice!
Posts: 7327 | Location: Dayton, Washington, USA | Registered: 03 December 2001
Originally posted by dandelion: I believe the only Tim Burton film I saw beginning to end in a theater (or probably at all) was The Nightmare Before Christmas...
...and that was a Henry Selick film!This message has been edited. Last edited by: Doug Spaulding,
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Posts: 6909 | Location: 11 South Saint James Street, Green Town, Illinois | Registered: 02 October 2002
Originally posted by groon: One of my favorite films is directed by Burton. Big Fish. Reduces me to a whimpering puddle of tears every time. So much hope and love in that story.
It's one of his best, alright! Probably top 3. My favorite is Ed Wood.
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Posts: 6909 | Location: 11 South Saint James Street, Green Town, Illinois | Registered: 02 October 2002
